Chronic Illness

Is Canada’s rare disease promise collapsing?

Canadians are increasingly finding themselves in an impossible position: treatments could be approved yet remain inaccessible. Friedreich ataxia (FA) has become a powerful example of that reality.

Our nervous system was never meant to be this alone

As physicians, we should absolutely continue improving access to mental health care. At the same time, we should also be willing to ask larger questions about the kind of society people are attempting to stay mentally well within.

Lifestyle medicine vs. wellness culture: Evidence-based preventative care should not be a luxury product

Evidence-based preventative care should not become a luxury product or a marketplace trend. It should remain a core part of accessible public health care.

Defying early-onset colorectal cancer, a disease increasingly affecting younger age groups

To truly defy early-onset colorectal cancer, we need to come to terms with the reality that colorectal cancer has now become a disease of the young.

Embracing disability consciousness: Elevating diverse voices in medical education

As health care is paying more attention to disability education in recent years, it’s important that when including disability voices, we ensure diversity of disabled voices as well.     

Pharmacists are often the first to see mental health issues. They should be trained to respond

Mental Health First Aid training could strengthen pharmacists' ability to assist patients in distress and could serve as a vital first touch point for patient care.

Androgenetic alopecia is more than just a ‘cosmetic’ issue

Hair loss is routinely classified in medicine as cosmetic – a matter of appearance rather than medical consequence. But that description is not neutral. It determines how seriously a condition is taken, how much funding it receives and how urgently effective treatments are pursued.

CSC policy change endangers health and lives in correctional facilities

The alarming number of overdose deaths in Canadian correctional facilities warrant an urgent, multi-faceted response from the federal government.

Shamed to death: How stigma, not science, is killing Canadians with lung cancer

Lung cancer screening should be available to everyone at risk, regardless of where they live or the source of their illness. 

Flawed by design: The case of the Saskatchewan fertility treatment tax credit

Saskatchewan’s fertility treatment tax credit is fundamentally inequitable, exclusionary and revealing of whose access to care is prioritized – and whose is not.

It’s time to act: Canada needs standardized genetic testing for breast cancer care

Every patient deserves to know if their breast cancer is hereditary, if their treatment could be more precise and if their loved ones are at risk.

HCWs have died and been disabled. Laws should have prevented this

We must learn the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent thousands from acquiring a preventable workplace-acquired illness.

Reclaiming the joy of cooking for people living with chronic conditions

The millions of Canadians living with diabetes deserve better than a lifetime of restriction and shame.

Assisted dying is changing medicine more than we realize

If Canada continues expanding assisted dying, it must answer hard questions. Are we expanding access to death faster than access to care? Are we ending lives prematurely when people could have flourished with adequate suicide prevention and support?

The hidden cost of dismissal: How we amplify chronic pain in clinical settings

Chronic pain affects more than one in five Canadians. But not all pain is shaped by our bones, muscles and systems. It also is shaped by context.

In rural Canada, burnout looks different

Burnout in Northern Ontario is not simply about being tired. It is about being stretched across distance, across roles, and across unmet needs. It reflects the broader challenge of delivering care in a vast country with uneven resource distribution.

Kevin’s story: My journey with my brother, dementia and Down Syndrome

Across the country, we talk about dementia more than we used to, but too often, conversations remain fragmented - and people with disabilities are rarely at the centre of planning.

Sick notes are slowly being banned but much more is needed to reduce administrative burden

Doctors across Canada agree: the crushing paperwork in medicine is unsustainable. Together, we can create a better system that truly supports both patients and the physicians who serve them.

‘Dangerous outcomes’: The limitations of BMI as a diagnostic tool

Researchers, clinicians and advocates have been raising concerns about the BMI, saying it is not a comprehensive indicator of health and using it can have disastrous results, especially for racialized populations.

From harm reduction to harm production: A frontline physician on the closure of safe consumption sites

The closure of safe consumption sites in Ontario flies in the face of scientific evidence and my experiences as a physician on the frontlines.